Ice Cold
by Sophia Hawkins
Summary: Oneshot. One minute Matt Casey and Kelly Severide weren't talking to each other. The next minute, Casey was fighting for his life.


Ice Cold

Kelly Severide drove through the largely empty streets, illuminated only by the street lights shining down on the road. It was going on 10 P.M., and he was just killing time, putting off going home, though he'd quickly found out his resources for another place to stay for the night were exhausted. In his younger days he didn't give it a second thought to set his sights on a woman at a club or a bar simply because he'd rather spend the night with a stranger in her apartment than go back to his own place for some reason or other, he was starting to feel the effects of his age as not only did it strike him as far less appealing than it used to, but that he hadn't been able to find any that at first glance he actually _wanted_ to go home with. His last resort was to sneak into 51 and crawl into an empty bunk and spend the night there, but it dawned on him that he was getting too old for that too. He had a problem at home, instead of avoiding it, he had to go back and face it, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

He still wasn't sure how it had gotten to this point. Yesterday on shift they'd had a rough call and he and Casey had butted heads over the best method to quickly extricate a victim who had gotten himself half impaled on a piece of farm machinery he was trying to put away before the snow fell, and in the process it had rolled over with him and he got caught in the blades. Actually the more Kelly thought about the actual circumstances instead of how he'd reacted to Casey undermining him, it wasn't anything that didn't happen a hundred times on calls, one person had one idea, someone else had another idea, in theory both could work, in practice both had their pros and cons, but there was only time to pick one, not even enough to think through the potential consequences. Kelly had stuck to his decision, and though it went against the unwritten rules of CFD to drop victims off at the hospital and move on, Kelly had made the mistake of dropping in to inquire about the man and found out that possibly due to how they'd moved the victim, he was looking at partial loss of use of his right arm. Alive, but that was little solace to the victims and their families who now had to adapt to a different way of life.

Casey hadn't said anything, but he didn't have to. In Kelly's mind the smug snipes were there, and as soon as Casey crossed his path of vision, he was directly in Kelly's line of fire. He took his frustration out on the Truck lieutenant and after a while Casey started pushing back, they both had some choice words with each other and nearly came to blows, but that was it. After that neither so much as looked at the other for the rest of shift, and during shift change the next day they'd gone their separate ways without a word. Kelly hadn't given it much thought during the day because he had stuff to do and didn't have to stop at the apartment they shared, but when the sun started to go down it occurred to him he wasn't looking forward to going back and facing Matt. As the night wore on he started to let his defenses down and realize that Casey wasn't the problem, what happened wasn't Casey's fault, and he hadn't done anything to attack Kelly about his decision. Instead he'd just blown up at Matt for no reason, and now he had to go home and apologize.

He finally reached their block and pulled his car up to the curb, he looked and saw Matt's truck there, but the lights were out. He guessed Casey had already gone to bed. He got out, slammed the door shut, and was halfway up the sidewalk when he happened to see something sticking out of the shiny white snow that covered the yard. A large, dark figure that was the size of a human body.

Kelly's stomach dropped. "Casey?"

He left the sidewalk and stepped into the snow that immediately went down in his boots, and saw it _was_ Casey, crumpled face down in the snow, not moving, not making a sound. He also noticed that Casey was just wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, his coat was gone.

"Oh my God, Matt!"

Kelly reached him and turned Casey over and saw his eyes were closed and there was a dark streak of dried blood trailing down his forehead over his eye. There was a sudden grunting sound of pain at the forced contact, it was the only sound Casey made, but it told Kelly he was alive, and that was one huge relief. Kelly felt for the pulse in Matt's neck and he almost recoiled at how freezing cold Casey's skin was, how long had he been laying out here? But he persisted, and he found Matt's pulse, it was slow, but it was steady. He thrust his hand down the neck of Casey's shirt and felt for his heartbeat, it was there too, also slow, but consistent. Severide was feeling so many different things at once he didn't know whether the relief or the terror would win over the other.

"Come on, Casey," he said as he grabbed Matt's arm and draped it over his shoulder for leverage to stand him up, "come on, we're gonna get you inside."

Matt's body felt like an icicle against him, Kelly thought he was losing his mind, how had this had happened? Who was responsible? Deep in his core he was starting to shake as it dawned on him what would've happened if he'd gone with his original plan to not come home tonight. He tried to push it away and focus on the matter at hand. Casey's body was limp against him and he was a dead weight, Kelly staggered through the snow to get both of them up on the porch. Then he fumbled to keep Casey balanced and get his keys out and unlock the door. He finally got it open and walked Casey over to the couch, and turned the lights on so he could get a better look at him.

Casey's skin was flushed pink from the cold and his clothes were soaked clear through, he was conscious but barely and not responsive to much. He had bits of snow hanging in his hair, plastered to his cheek and falling out of his ear. What scared the hell out of Kelly was how quiet it was. There was no chattering of teeth, no tremors, none of the body's typical responses to the cold in an attempt to stay warm. Casey was too far gone to even try and fight the cold. Kelly wasn't sure whether he should call the cops or not, instead he set to work getting Matt's wet clothes off, the blonde fireman put up little resistance as Kelly took off his boots, his socks, pulled his shirt up over his head, after which Casey fell against the couch cushions and laid down. He jerked and let out a small moan of protest when he felt his jeans being pulled down past his hips but otherwise didn't respond.

Kelly tossed the freezing wet clothes in the laundry basket in Casey's room and scrambled to get Matt wrapped up in two heavy blankets, one wrapped around his legs, the other draped around his upper body. Kelly propped him up on the couch and sat down next to Matt and put his arms around Casey and pulled his friend against him as he tried to rub the circulation back into Casey's body through the blankets.

"Come on, Matt," Kelly said as he vigorously rubbed a section of Casey's arm in circles, eventually switching to his back, feeling chilled by Casey's cold chin resting against his shoulder and realizing how close he'd come to freezing to death tonight, "come on, wake up."

* * *

Casey clutched the blankets tight against him as he shook and shivered where he sat on the middle of the couch, he'd barely been able to force his eyes open in the bright light of the living room. His teeth were chattering and he had his legs pressed tight together but even that wasn't enough to stop them from knocking against each other.

Kelly exited the kitchen with a mug of coffee and held it out to Matt, "Drink this, it'll warm you up."

Reluctantly, Casey opened the blanket enough to stick his hands out and accepted the mug, holding it in his hands for a few seconds to warm them up. Kelly still heard his teeth chattering against the ceramic as he sipped the hot coffee, he was surprised that none of it ran down Matt's chin.

Casey's knees were still rattling together as he lowered the mug on the coffee table and stammered, "Th-th-thanks."

Kelly sat down on the arm of the couch and watched Casey. He knew his friend wasn't _feeling_ any better right now but he'd been relieved when Casey started shivering, it was a sign he was alert enough to try fighting the cold, a battle that didn't seem to have any immediate end in sight.

"What happened?" Kelly asked as he scooted over to the cushion next to Matt and pulled the blonde man against him and roughly rubbed circles on his shoulder and back again.

"I-d-d-don't know," Casey replied, resting his head in the crook of Kelly's shoulder, wishing he could warm up enough to go to sleep, "I got home...w-went up the porch...sa-something hit me from behind...n-n-ext thing I remember is being pushed f-facedown in the snow..don' remember after that."

"When did you get home?" Kelly asked, dreading what the answer would be.

Casey shook his head, "D-d-don't re-re-member."

Kelly just nodded and continued rubbing Casey's back,"It's alright, it doesn't matter."

"Iiiiiiiim cold," Casey choked out.

"I know," Kelly stuck his hand under the blanket to feel Casey's skin, it was gradually warming up but not enough to either of their liking, "You think you'd feel better if you took a shower?"

"Don't want to," Casey answered.

Kelly looked towards the ceiling and let out half a laugh, if Casey was being stubborn that had to be a sign of improvement.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Casey shook his head.

Kelly nodded and told him, "We'll work on it."

He glanced at the clock every so often but he really had no idea how long he sat on the couch slowly rocking his best friend in his arms as he waited for Casey's body temperature to return to normal. Casey stayed cocooned in the blankets and seemed content to lean against Kelly and rest, until finally he sat up, more alert, and was pushing Kelly away and telling him, "Get me my clothes, I want my damn clothes."

Kelly went to Casey's room, got a set of his pajamas and took them to the living room, and humored Casey by turning around until he'd gotten dressed.

"Better?" he asked.

"A little," Casey answered as he sat back down. He flexed his fingers and commented, "Nothing's fallen off yet, should be good."

"Do you want to call the cops and report what happened?" Kelly asked.

Casey shook his head, his teeth still chattering slightly. "Won't do any good, I never saw who attacked me, I wouldn't be able to describe them or even how many there were."

Kelly blinked, "There was more than one?"

"I don't know," Casey replied, "it'd be a waste of time...besides all they got is my coat and..." he stopped and his face scrunched up in a grimace as he realized, "They got my phone, I had it in my coat."

"We'll get you a new phone," Kelly told him. "The important thing is that _you're_ alright."

"That remains to be seen," Casey responded as he wrapped the blankets back around him.

* * *

"Kelly."

Severide opened his eyes and sat up in the chair beside the couch. He saw the clock that said it was 2:30 in the morning, the lights were still on, the TV was playing reruns of an old sitcom, and Casey was laid out on the couch covered in the blankets, but he was awake, and looked confused by his current surroundings.

"You okay, buddy?" he asked as he got up to check on Matt.

Casey closed his eyes and sighed tiredly. "I think so."

"You warm enough?" Kelly asked as he patted Casey's ribs through the blankets.

Casey nodded.

"You need anything?"

Casey kept his eyes shut and shook his head.

"Okay," Kelly said as he leaned over and lightly kissed Casey on the forehead, "I'll see you in the morning then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Casey murmured as he pulled the blankets tighter.

Kelly returned to the chair and draped a blanket over himself, and soon he fell asleep too.

The next thing he was aware of was somebody calling him.

"Kelly?"

He opened his eyes and it was morning, he looked over at the couch and Casey was on his side, his eyes the only part of him moving, looking around at everything.

"Yeah?"

Casey sounded slightly disoriented as he asked, "'m I sick?"

"No." He hoped not anyway.

"'m sweating like a pig," Casey said as he slowly worked to untangle himself from the blankets.

Kelly got up and pulled the covers off Matt and told him, "Go take a shower, you'll feel better."

Casey slowly nodded and got up, "Thanks."

* * *

Casey looked notably better when he stepped out of the bathroom clean and dressed, his damp hair temporarily laying flat. Kelly had been cooking breakfast when he entered the kitchen.

"Hey, you feeling better?"

"I think so," Casey answered as he went over to the table. "I didn't think you were going to come home last night."

"I almost didn't," Kelly confessed.

"What made you change your mind?"

"I don't know..." Kelly turned to face him, "Well that's not exactly true...I was coming back to apologize."

"For what?" Casey asked.

"The way I snapped at you," Severide answered.

Casey didn't respond for a minute, just looked at Kelly, and then said to him, "Can I ask you a question, Kelly? Exactly what did I ever do to you?"

Kelly waited a minute to answer, and when he did he smirked and half choked on a laugh, "You mean besides when we were at the academy and you glued my boots to the floor when I was asleep?"

Casey smirked at the recollection of that memory. But the mood passed and Kelly was somber as he explained, "I don't know why I always get mad at you, I'm sorry. I don't like being second-guessed on a call, but that's no excuse."

"Kelly, I wasn't second-guessing you," Casey said. "I know that you know what you're doing, I also know our job doesn't allow a lot of time to consider options, I also know the first thing that comes to mind isn't always the right thing and I was trying to give you both options so you could actually _pick_ what you thought was the best choice."

"I know," Kelly replied, "and I stuck with my decision, and that guy we pulled out of there might suffer permanent damage because of it."

"He's alive, he'll recover, right?" Casey asked.

Kelly nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, but-"

Casey shook his head, "Kelly, there's never any guarantee that any call we make will work the way it's supposed to, it's all a gamble, it's just educated guesswork what's most likely, you know that."

"I know, but I don't do well when my decisions _harm_ the person I'm trying to save," Kelly told him. "I needed someone to take it out on and that was you, I'm sorry, it shouldn't have happened."

"I'm the available punching bag," Casey commented, which made Kelly feel like somebody just hit him in the gut. "I didn't mind it so much when we were younger, Kelly, and I _do_ understand it...but I'm getting tired of being blamed for everything."

"I know...I don't know what's wrong with me, I don't know why I always take everything out on you," Kelly said.

Casey sighed and stood up and walked over to Kelly. "Probably because you know I'm the only one that'll put up with it." He pulled Kelly into a hug and told him, "I still love you, you big idiot."

Kelly choked on a snorting laugh.

"Thanks for coming back last night," Casey said.

"You sure you're okay?" Kelly asked as he pulled back to inspect the cut on Casey's forehead.

"I'm fine," Matt answered, "thanks to you."

* * *

Kelly lightly rapped on Casey's door before opening it and poking his head in. He saw Casey laying in bed with the bedside lamp on and he was still awake.

"Hey, can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure," Casey said with a small shrug.

Kelly entered the room, closed the door behind him and asked, "You want some company tonight?"

Casey thought it over and finally moved over to one side of the bed and pulled the covers down on the opposite side.

Kelly climbed in beside him and pulled the blankets up.

"You okay?"

Casey nodded, and asked, "You?"

"I think so," Kelly replied. He looked at Casey and asked him, "Are we good?"

Casey thought about it and nodded, "We're fine."

"I'm sorry, about everything."

"That's in the past, Kelly."

"No, not just that," he replied.

It had been an off day, a slow day, they'd never left the apartment, which meant Casey still had no phone, and no coat and they had eight inches of snow outside, and had to be at work tomorrow.

"I've got a spare coat you can wear tomorrow," Kelly told him, "and after next shift we'll get you a new phone."

Casey turned on his side and looked at Kelly through one eye. "Thanks, Kelly."

* * *

It was the sound of somebody knocking on the door that woke them up.

"What time is it?" Casey softly groaned.

Kelly forced an eye open to look at the digital clock. "6:30, who the hell's up this early?"

The knocking persisted and both firemen left the bedroom and turned on the lights as they headed to the door.

"I was having this weird nightmare," Casey said as he went to undo the locks, "We were in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, all of a sudden Freddy Krueger busts through the front door."

He undid the chain and bolt and pulled the door open, revealing Hank Voight standing on the other side.

Both firemen jumped back a step and let out a sudden yelp.

"Very funny," the Intelligence sergeant commented, he looked at Casey and noted the cut over the lieutenant's eye, "Everything okay here?"

"Uh, fine," Casey answered, not sure what was going on, "Why?"

Voight held up a cell phone in a plastic evidence bag and asked Casey, "Can you identify this?"

"That's my phone," Casey said in awe, "where'd you get it?"

"Same place I got this," Voight held up the coat he'd draped over his shoulder, "patrol busted a couple idiots the other day, who couldn't explain where they got your phone, or why one of them was wearing a coat a size too small. They've been processed, judge set bail that they can't pay, and that brings us to now. Somebody want to explain what's going on here?"

Kelly gave Voight a watered down version of what had happened when he came home the other night and found Casey. Voight grunted and asked Casey, "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah...thanks for bringing my stuff back, but, isn't it evidence until the trial?"

"Matt," Voight said in a tone as if he was about to explain a simple concept to an idiot, "They're not standing trial for assaulting and robbing you, they're going to stand trial because they were caught with $20,000 worth of heroin in their possession. There's enough evidence on that charge that we didn't need an additional charge with this additional evidence, which it seems apparent, you need right now."

Casey wasn't sure what to say. "Thanks, Hank."

"Don't mention it."

And like that, the cop turned and left.

"That was weird," Kelly commented.

"Yeah, but great timing," Casey replied as he took his phone out of the bag.

"Well, since we're already up, I'm gonna start on breakfast," Kelly said. He turned on his heel and added sheepishly, "Hey uh...thanks for letting me stay with you last night."

"Don't mention it."

Kelly moved to take a step but instead turned back again, "Uh...would it be alright if we did it again sometime?"

Casey paused for a minute, then laughed, "Just as long as it doesn't become a _regular_ thing."

"Oh, no, no," Kelly shook his head, "but...it was kind of nice, just not sleeping alone."

"I agree," Casey replied.

Kelly almost laughed at the irony. Years ago he'd go out and pick up a stranger and go home with her rather than sleep alone, now all he had to do was go across the hall to his friend's room.

He didn't dare say a word of it to Casey because he knew Matt would just think he'd lost his damn mind, but he definitely allowed the thought to roam around in his head. He might've been getting too old for a lot of things, but thankfully a sleepover with his best friend wasn't one of them.


End file.
